CINCINNATI – Like his fighting nickname suggests, Matt Brown may truly be “The Immortal.” The welterweight looked to be finished in the opening seconds of his bout with Erick Silva but somehow battled back for a third-round TKO win in a certain “Fight of the Year” candidate.

The welterweight bout was the main event of today’s UFC Fight Night 40 event at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on FOX Sports 2 and UFC Fight Pass.

In typical fashion, Brown walked forward from the opening bell, but Silva scampered away and landed a few big kicks to the body that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas. Even as he kneeled against the fence in obvious pain, Brown refused to quit, and Silva gave up throwing punches and instead moved to the back and began hunting for the rear-naked choke. Brown defended the move well and survived when Silva briefly squeezed tight on the chin. With Silva unable to sink the choke, Brown scrambled to his feet and began to punish Silva with punches and knees against the cage. Exhausted from the early attempt to finish the fight, Silva simply covered and looked to survive. Brown threw him repeatedly to the floor but couldn’t get the finish, and an exhilarating opening frame somehow led to another.

In the second, Brown again rushed forward before another Silva kick to the body briefly changed the momentum. But Brown would not be denied, and he quickly recovered and came back to batter Silva with punches, knees and elbows from all angles. Silva showed heart in the face of the assault, but the fatigue of the early work was evident. Silva’s best moments came when he scored to the body with both kicks and punches, but Brown took control of the action by taking the fight to the floor and looking to set up first an inverted triangle choke and then a D’Arce choke. Silva survived both holds, but Brown transitioned into mount and looked to punch away from the dominant position. Brown eventually turned out for an armbar that missed and saw his opponent score with a sweep, but Silva was unable to capitalize on top position late in the round.

Brown’s pressure was relentless to open the third round, and he was instantly inside with more knees and elbows from the clinch. Silva somehow remained upright in the face of the attack until Brown pushed him to the floor. A desperate and fading Silva looked for potential submission opportunities from his back, but Brown postured up and unleashed a non-stop barrage of ground-and-pound blows that forced referee Herb Dean to stop the fight at the 2:11 mark of the third round.

The crowd instantly erupted in support of the Ohio native.

“Cincinnati, Ohio, who do you want to see fight for a title next?” Brown asked after the win before pointing to UFC President Dana White. “Right there is the man you need to talk to. Tell him what you want.”

Brown (19-11 MMA, 12-5 UFC) has now won an incredible seven straight fights in the UFC. Silva (16-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) falls short in the first UFC headlining opportunity of his career but likely picked up a few fans in the process after a gutsy effort.